While wireless tagging technologies could help health providers save lives, improve workflow efficiency and reduce the cost of caring for patients, a fear of job losses and the belief that the provision of healthcare cannot be automated is likely to slow the deployment of such technologies, according to a report from UK technology consultancy Wireless Healthcare.

     The report, entitled ''Selling Wireless Tagging To The Healthcare Sector'', describes a number of scenarios within which wireless tagging could improve the safety and efficiency of clinical processes and supporting services. It also highlights equivalent processes within the financial services and manufacturing sectors that have already been automated and, as a consequence, are less labour intensive and are already providing the public with lower-cost products and services. 116.30.147.133 This article is copyright 2004 UsingRFID.com.

     "The refusal to accept that it is possible to automate some clinical processes is preventing the healthcare sector from entering the twenty-first century," warned Peter Kruger, a senior analyst with Wireless Healthcare.

     The report contrasts the different strategies the NHS and the fast food restaurant McDonald''s have adopted to combat problems associated with hygiene, cleanliness and the failure of staff to adhere to basic procedures. While the UK health provider is generally falling back on procedures and operating practices that date back several decades, McDonald''s has been experimenting with a wireless system that helps ensure that staff comply with inspection procedures.

     The report describes a scenario within which a tagging system is used to ensure medical staff use a hand washing station after attending to a patient - a system which could help stop the spread of infections from patient to patient within hospital wards. But while some clinicians feel this level of monitoring sounds too much like "Big Brother" watching over them, in practice it could alert a health worker to a potential problem before a patient comes to harm. The report also highlights applications such as the use of patient tagging to ensure the right medicines are prescribed and administered, and that the correct surgical procedures are carried out on the right patients.

     Wireless Healthcare also warns vendors that some of the objections - such as potential infringements of patient privacy - could mask more fundamental concerns over the use of wireless tagging. Health workers may fear that automation will result in the de-skilling of tasks, and consequently lead to job losses. The report also points out that, with the NHS being the largest employer in the UK, the automation of even a few basic procedures could result in a large number of job losses, and that these losses would come on top of redundancies among back-office workers that will occur when NPfIT applications and services are eventually rolled out.

     The report recommends a number of strategies that vendors can adopt to overcome resistance to automation, and profiles a number of vendors that have already successfully positioned their wireless products within the healthcare market. The report is available from Wireless Healthcare''s web site.

     The company has also recently published its Wireless Healthcare 2004 annual report on the wireless e-health industry, describing how existing and next-generation healthcare providers could use wireless and mobile technologies to help drive down costs and increase efficiency.

 

 

 

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